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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28671720">Playing Possum</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrairieDawn/pseuds/PrairieDawn'>PrairieDawn</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Exchanges After Dark Birthday Bash 2021, F/F, Playing Dead, Shapeshifting, fic of a fic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 05:20:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>934</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28671720</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrairieDawn/pseuds/PrairieDawn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ludmilla and Hazel have angered the wrong prince and must take drastic measures to evade his wrath.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Queen Ludmilla (OC)/Hazel the Sorceress (OC)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Exchanges After Dark Birthday Bash 2021</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Playing Possum</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheseusInTheMaze/gifts">TheseusInTheMaze</a>.</li>


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27384022">Shapes, and Their Influence</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheseusInTheMaze/pseuds/TheseusInTheMaze">TheseusInTheMaze</a>.
        </li>

    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I hope I got the characterization at least close on these two.</p><p>Go read the work this is based on. It's clever and funny and adorable, and it has much wlw pining and cat-shapeshift goodness.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Rarely had Hazel been so completely wrapped around Ludmilla’s body and enjoyed it so little.  The carriage slalomed and jumped, slamming them both into the walls, the inadequately padded seats, and even the ceiling, marring the burgundy silks and velvet and covering them both with the not-so-much-fun kind of bruises. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>At the rate they were flying over the road, the horses would be spent, likely to death, in minutes. The thought bothered Hazel almost as much as the thought of the Queen’s and her own imminent deaths, and for something so </span>
  <em>
    <span>stupid!</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Not that the need for the two of them to produce an heir of the body was stupid, as such, but even Hazel’s magic wasn’t up to getting Ludmilla a child without the aid of a sperm donor. There were sound political reasons to recommend Prince Jasper of Kvaria for a marriage of state,but on meeting the vain, ignorant, dangerously ambitious twat she and Ludmilla hadn’t even had to discuss his suitability before getting up from their arranged dinner unexcused and flouncing the hell out of there. Which was apparently a capital offense in Kvaria, or had been since Prince Jasper decided to make a capital offense out of anything that displeased him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hazel seriously regretted not casting some ethically dubious spell on the man while she had the chance. His subjects would probably have thanked her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The carriage took a turn badly and rocked hard enough to pop one of the doors wide open so that Hazel could see the ground whip sickeningly past. A horse screamed, the carriage rolled forward and down over what was definitely not road, and Hazel had only a moment to shout the final word of a preset shield spell she kept in reserve for just these occasions.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They made it to the bottom of the hill alive, but that wasn’t likely to remain the case for long. Hazel took advantage of the momentary silence to capture Ludmilla’s shoulders in her hands and wait until those beautiful, terrified eyes focused on hers. “Lady, do you trust me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Queen smiled through her split lip. “With my life, Puss.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We can’t be found here,” she explained, then launched into the words of the Spell, altering to extend her power over them both and hoping it would be enough. Magic poured out of her, first in cascades, then, finally, in desperate dribbles until she was spent and empty, too exhausted to move.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She was smothering in piles of fabric. A nose, pointy and a little cool, poked into her side. </span>
  <em>
    <span>We can’t be found here.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Even in her exhaustion and terror, she felt a faint spark of delight that the modification she’d worked into the spell had worked. They could understand each other. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Leave me,</span>
  </em>
  <span> she told the Queen. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Get yourself away.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Don’t be daft, Puss, get a move on.</span>
  </em>
  <span> The nose poked at her again, harder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hazel squirmed until she was feet side down, then crawled out of her clothes to follow Ludmilla a little way further down the slope and into a clump of tall, concealing grass. They were naked of course, though quite a bit hairier than usual. It was just too bad Hazel was too exhausted to take proper advantage.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Above them, she could hear the harsh, barked voices of Prince Jasper’s men searching the carriage. Her heart fluttered in her chest, improbably fast, Ludmilla squeaked faintly and twisted beside her, then fell terrifyingly still. Hazel poked her with a nose too pointy to be a cat’s and squinted newly light-sensitive--and color blind--eyes to see tightly clenched claws, unseeing beady eyes, and a gray-pink tongue lolling out. She’d spent all her magic on one chance to save them and Ludmilla had died anyway? Paralysis seized her, fueled by terror and despair, and she lay helpless beside her Queen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>*</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Night fell, cool and dark, and a pointy nose poked itself into her underarm. She blinked herself awake. </span>
  <em>
    <span>We are not cats, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Ludmilla accused.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hazel gave herself a little shake and curled her tail up beside her. Her hairless tail. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Tell me we aren’t rats, Lady,</span>
  </em>
  <span> she begged.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>We’ve spent all day playing possum and you still don’t know what you’ve made of us?  </span>
  </em>
  <span>Naked tail slid over naked tail as her Lady twined them together.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>You have got to be kidding me.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Ludmilla chuffed, a sound that felt like laughter. </span>
  <em>
    <span>So, last time you were a cat for four months. Twice as much magic means this should last half as long, right?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>That was not the way it worked at all, not at all. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Twice as much magic means twice as long for me to recover and change us back.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Ludmilla squealed. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Eight months! We’re going to be possums for </span>
  </em>
  <b>
    <em>eight months</em>
  </b>
  <em>
    <span>!</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Hazel winced, to the extent the body would let her. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Think of it as a vacation from all those queenly responsibilities.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I’m still the Queen.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>She was right of course. It wouldn’t do to leave their home without a ruler for so long.</span>
  <em>
    <span> Fine, fine. Food first, then we need to find a beast whisperer who isn’t loyal to that jackass Jasper.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Food, then you need to make proper amends, then we go find your beast whisperer.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>In these bodies?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>You don’t think I’m going to wait eight months to have my way with you, Puss.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Ludmilla’s furry body bumped up against her in a way she was sure was intended to be seductive. It mostly failed, but they had eight long months to get it right. She was sure that between the two of them they’d figure it out.</span>
</p><p><br/>
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